Within the field of computing, many scenarios involve a gesture performed by a user and recognized by a sensor of a device. In many such scenarios, the device features one or more sensors, such as an accelerometer, a microphone, and/or a touch-sensitive display. The device may be preprogrammed by a manufacturer to recognize a number of gestures performed by the user, such as raising the phone the ear; performing a “pinch” gesture on the touch-sensitive display; and placing the phone face-down on a horizontal surface. The device may be programmed, e.g., by identifying a model sensor output of a sensor when a gesture is performed by a typical user, such that when a particular user performs the gesture in a similar manner as a typical user, the device is capable of recognizing the gesture by comparing the sensor output with that of the model sensor output representing the gesture.